Author 



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Title 



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Class -■ L— .C. Do. 
Book . ...xL.5 



Imprint. 



E W. PAEZEIl 



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MR. ALLEN'S 



ORATION, 



DELIVERED JULT 4, 1806. 









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AN 



O R A T I O 



DELIVERED AT 

PETERSHAM, 

JULY 4, 1806, 
AT THE 

ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION 

OF 

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, 

/' 

BY SAMUEL C^^ALLEN, 



yOST, TBI CONTAGIO, Q^UASI PESTILEJJTIA, INVASIT ; CIVITA3 
IMMUTATA, IMPERIUM, EX JUSTISSUMO ATCI.UE OPTDMO, CRU- 
DELE INTOLERANDUM(i,UE FACTUM. SALLUST. 



BOSTON : 

PRINTED AT THE EMERALD PRESS, 
By Belcher a7id Armstrong. 



In behalf of the Committee of Arrangements for celebrating 
the Anniversary of American Independence in the town of Petersham, 
we return their most cordial thanks to Samuel C. Allen, Esquire, 
for the excellent Oration delivered this day, and request him to furnish 
a copy for publication. 



Petersham,") 
JULY 4,1806.5 



DANIEL BIGELOW, 
JOHN CHANDLER, 
NATHL. MACCARTY. 



New Salem, August 1st, 1806. 
Gentlemen, 

I KAVE, at length, agreeable to your polite request, con- 
cluded to furnish a copy of my Oration for the press. In yielding this 
imperfect performance to the call of my fellow citizens who heard it, 
I have been influenced by the hope, that it might contribute, in some 
small degree, to preserve the true knowledge of the revolution, and to 
maintain the genuine spirit by which it was effected. At a time, when 
the good old principles of 1776 are misrepresented, and doctrines, un- 
known to the patriots of that proud period, arc propagated with industry 
and zeal, when the national spirit is paralised, and the genius of 
American Liberty is held in bondage, every effort, however feeble it 
may be, to vindicate truth, to strip falsehood of its deceptive disguise, 
and to raise the publick mind to its just elevation, is not altogether 
destitute of merit. The copy is at your disposal. To you, who know 
the circumstances in which the oi'iginal was written, apologies are un- 
necessary ; with the publick they can be of no avail. 

With great respect, I am, gentlemen, 

your humble servant. 

SAMUEL C. ALLEN. 
Daniel Bigelow, 
John Chandler, and 
Nathl. Maccartv, Esquirer. 



AN 






ORATION. 



Nations, like the individuals who 
compose them, have their progress and dechne. The 
causes, which contribute to prolong their existence, 
or accelerate their fall, may arise from external influ- 
ence or violence, as well as from defects, in the forms 
of the constitution, and from a degeneracy of the na- 
tional spirit. 

The legitimate design of all government is to se- 
pure men in the enjoyment of their natural rights. 
For this purpose, however, different nations have 
adopted different political constitutions, as best ac- 
corded with the genius and manners of the people. 
The form of government, therefore, in every nation 
is rather the result of public sentiment, than the 
cause Mhich produces it. And, though a constitu- 
tion defuiing the different powers of the government, 
may favour the preservation of civil liberty ; yet, 
when its sacred barriers are trampled under foot, who 
shall avenge the violated instrument, and vindicate 
the rights of the people ? Unless the same spirit, 
%vhich gave existence to a free government, can be 
kept .ali\-e in the people^ ho\\ever the forms of tlie 



constitution may be preserved, it will degenerate 
into a system of practical tyranny. The Romans were 
amused with the contemptible farce of electing their 
consuls, and fancied them the successors of Brutus 
and of Scipio, when these officers had lost all au- 
thority in the Commonwealth, and were exhibited, 
by a military despot, as mere puppets to flatter the 
prejudices of the vulgar, and to varnish the crimes 
of an oppressive and wicked administration. 

Though we cannot too highly appreciate our re- 
publican constitutions of government, purchased, as 
they were, by the lives of so many brave men, and 
comprising, as they do, the wisdom of preceding 
ages ; yet, we are not to repose entire confidence in 
them for the security of our rights. The preserva- 
tion of civil liberty depends more on publick senti- 
ment, on national spirit and manners, than, on the 
particular form of government. The ancient repub- 
licks did not derive their origin from the projects of 
statesmen, or the theories of philosophers. They 
arose from the instincts and sentiments of men, and 
received their form from the circumstances in which 
the people were placed. And it is a curious fact, 
that the ancients, by the mere dictate of natural feel- 
ing, and the moderns, by a process of reasoning, 
should arrive at the same results. Locke and Syd- 
ney have demonstrated truths in the science of gov- 
ernment, which dictated those ardent emotions and 
strong sentiments, by which the best of the Romans 
were animated and impelled to deeds of patriotism. 

In the first age of that Commonwealth, the love of 
country absorbed every inferiour passion ; and jus- 



tice and moderation prevailed, by the strength of nat- 
ural sentiment, without the artificial constraint of the 
laws. But, when Rome had become rich by indus- 
try, and proud by conquest, ambition and avarice 
sprang up in the minds of the people ; a corruption 
of manners ensued ; and the republick sunk under 
the accumulated burden of its own vices. 

In every country, and under e\'ery form of govern- 
ment, the pubiick sentiment, the national spirit must 
be maintained in its vigour, or the rights of the peo- 
ple cannot be preserved. 

The revolution, which liberated tlie American peo- 
ple from the dominion of England, is an astonishing 
instance of the energy of national spirit. This sup- 
plied the means of defence. This produced order 
without arrangement, and union without concert. 

But what were the immediate causes, which led 
to this great event '? What were the efficient princi- 
ples, which produced it ? 

After the peace of seventeen hundred sixty 
three, the English ministry began to manifest a 
design, not only to draw a revenue from die colo- 
nies, under the pretence of defraying the expen- 
ses of the war ; but to reduce them to a more im- 
mediate dependence on the crown. The measures 
of the British parliament gave great and just alarm to 
the people. Descended from the English nation, 
tliey retained an affection for the land of their fathers ; 
and vvere, from principle, attached to their lawful 
sovereign. Tliey considereil themselves, as free- 
born subjects of the English government, and claim- 



cd the rights and privileges, secured to them hy the 
British constitution. When the pariiament, tliere- 
fore, assumed the right to impose taxes, and, in all 
cases, to bind the colonies by their laws, they deem- 
ed this act, as the commencement of a system of 
measures, calculated to degrade them from the rank 
of freemen, and to reduce them to the condition of 
slaves and vassals. They were bom free, and they 
determined not to survive the loss of their liberty. 
The national spirit, like the electrick fluid, diffused it- 
self through the continent. The people from New- 
hampshire to Georgia, as if impelled by one princi- 
ple, flew to arms conscious of the injuries they suf- 
fered, and relying on the justice of Providence for 
success. 

It is true, this is not the light, in which many of" 
the writers and declaimers of the present day, who 
profess to admire the revolution, affect to consider it. 

They would represent the American patriots, as a 
political sect, who had embraced a ?jew doct7ine^ 
and, like the followers of Mahomet, had taken anns 
for the propagation of their principles. They would 
exhibit their virtuous efforts, for the emancipation of 
their own country ; as the commencement of a sys- 
tem of warfare,- against a monarchical form of govern- 
ment in every nation. They would compare the 
temperate spirit of our revolution, to that mad phren-- 
sy, which, under the pretext of establishing liberty, 
violated the sacred rights of humanity, and spread 
devastation and misery, through the fairest portion 
of Europe. 



However, men of superficial minds might be flat- 
tered ^vith the French revolution in its outset ; yet 
the enormities, which have marked its progress, and 
the tyranny, in which it has issued, have proved its 
hostility to social order and happiness. Yet, when 
this revolution was in vogue, many of tlie people of 
this country, had formed extravagant expectations of 
the advantages, which would arise from the preva- 
lence of its principles. As though doctrines could 
be taught by the sword, and men could be conquer- 
ed to freedom ; they vainly imagined, that the fiUe 
of republican liberty through the world, was suspend- 
ed from the issue of this bloody conflict. With en- 
thusiastick expectation and awful solicitude, they look- 
ed to the termination of the dreadful struggle, as the 
period of relief and of rest to weary and oppressed hu- 
manity. The atrocities, which distinguished its tri- 
umphs, they considered the involuntary '* spasms of 
" infuriated man, seeking, through blood and slaugh- 
' ' ter, his long-lost liberty. ' ' Possessing a strong sym- 
pathy with the jacobin sect, a party, in this country, 
had oiganized itself, for the purpose of overawing the 
executive, and compelling the administration to join 
that regicide faction, and to attach itself to the bloody 
destinies of France. Happy for the people, the po- 
litical discernment of Adams, and the manly decision 
of Washington, arrested the progress of this danger- 
ous enthusiasm, and saved the country from the ca- 
lamities and misery, which befel the nations of Eu- 
rope. But the patriots of our revolution did not 
dream of a raillenium ; but they felt and acted like 
B 



10 

men. They did not declaim against kings, for the 
purpose of becoming tyrants, under another name ; 
but they loved their country ; they were acquainted 
with its political rights ; and they had determined to 
risk their lives and fortunes, in their defence. When 
they took up arms, they claimed no privileges, but 
such as were secured to them by the British con- 
stitution, by charter, and immemorial usage. 

This is evinced by the declaration of their repre- 
sentatives on the sixth of July, 1775. 

In this, they complain " of statutes for altering 
*' fundamentally tlie form of government, established 
*' by charter, and secured by acts of the legislature, 
" solemnly coHiirmed by the crown. And why,'* 
say they, " should we enumerate our injuries inde- 
*'tail? By one statute it is declared, that parliament can, 
of right, make laws to bind us in all cases whatsoever, 
" What is to defend us against so enormous, so un- 
*' limited a power ? not a single man of those, who 
*' assume it is chosen by us, or is subject to our con- 
" troul or influence. But, on the contrary, tliey are 
** all of them exempt from the operation of such lavi^, 
" and an American revenue, if not diverted from the 
*' ostensible purposes for which it is raised, would 
" actually lighten their own burdens, in proportion 
** as they increase ours. We saw the misery to 
*' which such despotism would reduce us. We, for 
*' ten years, incessantly and ineffectually beseeched 
*' the throne as supplicants: we reasoned, weremon- 
*' strated in the most mild and decent language. Ad- 
*' ministration, sensible that we should regard these 



II 

" oppressive measures as freemen ought to do, sent 
*' over fleets and armies to enforce them. The indig- 
*' nation of the American people was roused, it is 
*' ti"ue, but it was tlie indignation of a virtuous, loyal 
" and affectionate people." 

Such men were incapable of treason. They resis- 
ted the usurpations of the British government, but 
not the constitutional exercise of its powers. 

The same idea of the principles of the rc^'olution, 
is contained in the speech, which General Washing- 
ton made to the army, when he caused the declara- 
tion of Independence to be proclaimed before them. 
These are his remarkable words. " It behooves us 
*' to adopt such counsels, as, under the smiles of ai 
*' gracious and all-kind Providence, will be most 
" likely to promote our happiness. I trust, these de- 
" cisive measures are calculated for that end, and 
" will secure us that freedom and those privileges, 
*' which have been, and are, refused to us, contrary 
*' to the voice of nature, and the British Consti- 
*' tution." 

But when hostilities had commenced, there was 
no medium betwixt an unlimited submission to the 
British government, and a total dissolution of all po- 
litical connexion with it. Dreadful as was the alter- 
native, Americans did not hesitate. They resolved 
to hazard their existence, rather than abandon their 
rights. In a long and bloody wai% when its external 
means were exhausted, the country derived new re- 
sources from the courage and fortitude of the people. 
They were not to be dismayed by dangers, or sub. 



12 

dued by sufferings. Compelled to resort to the 
sword, they disdained a compromise. 

" The issue of diis cpntest was glorious ; could 
^' it be otherwise, when its destinies were committed 
" to" Washington. 

The different colonies, having asserted their inde- 
pendence, proceeded to establish for themselves, 
constitutions of government. These, however, wer^ 
adapted to the ancient usages of country ; and few 
alterations were introduced into the forms, either of 
the publick admhiistration, or the judicial proceedings. 

But the old Confederation, under which the war 
had been conducted, was found insufficient for the 
purposes of the union ; after a sense of comrnon dan- 
ger had deserted its members. The American peo- 
ple had now arrived at an alarming crisis in their af- 
fairs. A spirit of discontent pervaded every part of 
the country ; a rebellion had actually broken out in 
this Commonwealth, and there seemed to be no pow- 
er in the state to remedy, or repress t^ie disorders. 

A plan for a national government was projected j 
a constitution was framed, and adopted by the people. 

By this constitution, while the states retained their 
sovereignty, the more effectually to secure the liber- 
ties of the people, they unjted in a general govern- 
ment, " in order to form a more perfect union and 
to provide for the common defence." '' If a Repub- 
lick be small," says the incomparable Montesquieu, 
*' it is desti'oyed by a foreign force ; if it be large, it 
" is ruined by an internal imperfection." The United 
States, therefore, by adopting a Federal constitution, 



13 

and, at the same time, retaining their individual 
sovereignty, have combined the internal advantages 
of a republican, with the external force of a monarchi- 
cal government. This is, perhaps, the only way, in 
which the liberties of the people, and the safety of the 
state, can both be preserved. It is, however, no 
modern invention. It was known to the ancients, 
and contributed to prolong the existence of the Gre- 
cian states. Holland and Switzerland ai'e modem in- 
stances of it ; and they flourished, till the French 
revolution had diffused its pestilence among the peo- 
ple, and palsied the national spirit. 

If, therefore, every form of political constitution 
has been found insufficient to preserve its own exist-, 
ence, we are forbid to entertain the expectation, 
though we might indulge the patriotick wish, that ours 
will be perpetual. Every species of governments has 
its imperfections, and, in the order of Providence, 
there are causes of destruction, allotted to political 
establishments as well as to physical beings. But, 
besides the external violence by which all govern- 
mcnt may alike be subverted, there are secret and 
invisible causes, resulting from their peculiar struc- 
ture, which may gradually undermine their exist- 
ence. But, as they differ in the principles by which 
they are made to act, as well as in the form in which 
they are constituted, they are liable to different disor- 
ders, arising from the vai'ious passions, which agi- 
tate and impel the human mind. 

In Republicks, the principle of the government 
must be preserved, or the freedom of the constitu- 



14 

lion will prove an inlet to actual tyranny. In a disdr^ 
dered state of the commonwealth, the people, weari^ 
cd with the contentions of party, and vexed with the 
oppressions of power, not subject to the restraints of 
law, will resort to a master, for the protection, which 
the government is unable to give. This must neces- 
sarily take place, when the mild restraints of reason, 
and the power of moral suasion, shall loose their influ- 
ence on the publick mind. The principle of a free gov- 
ernment being once corrupted, the rights of the people 
can find no sanctuary in the forms of the constitution. 

These are not mere speculative opinions ; but 
they involve the interests of our native country, the 
safety of our own firesides, and the rights of posterity. 

Americans, there is no piety in the fraud, which 
would conceal from you the real state of your affairs, 
and amuse you with fair speeches, when your com- 
merce is left without protection, and your citizens 
are insulted and murdered in the very entrance of 
your harbours. Where are the resources of the 
country ? Are they squandered in the purchase of 
htw territory, or yielded to the demands of the Gal- 
lic chief ? Where is the nation's spirit ? Where 
are the sons of those men, who fought on the heights 
of Charlestown, and the plains of Monmouth ? Are 
they prepared to truckle to a foreign state, and drawl 
out a degraded existence ? Where is the courageous 
wisdom i where is the manly decision, the independ- 
ent spirit, which distinguished the early counsels of 
the general government? Remember the times of 
Genet. Who saved the country from joining in a 



15 

jacobin war, and rescued the people from the delirium 
of French phrensy ? Why are the friends and com- 
panions of Washington, driven from the national 
counsels ? Where is the sage of Quincy, the early 
and constant asserter of American Independence ? 

They might have continued in power, if they 
would have prostrated the rights and dignity of the 
nation. But they could not be seduced by intrigue, 
or overborne by insolence. When the whole hem- 
isphere was covered with blackness, and the elements 
of the political world were in awful commotion, they 
withstood the tempest, and weathered out the stoim. 

The French government was mortified and chag- 
grined by the defeat of its base and nefarious projects. 
It is not in the nature of such counsels, however, to 
abandon their object. When they found the Ameri- 
can government could not be corrupted, they ad- 
dressed themselves to the people, for the purpose of 
desti'oying their confidence, in the Vvisdom and recti- 
tude of its measures. Ambitious men were not want- 
ing to enlist in the work of revolution, and to aid their 
design of effecting a change in the administi-ation. 

Unfortunate for the cause of civil liberty, the peo- 
ple are liable to be deceived. But, however, they 
may for a time^ mistake the true interests of the coun- 
try, and suffer a suspension of the national spirit ; 
yet, tliey will awake from their slumbers, they \\ill 
look back to the days of Washington ; the fire of the 
revolution will kindle in their breasts ; and the nation- 
al character will emerge from the cloud, ^^ hich ob- 
scures its lustre. 



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